Washable slipper-type footwear with one-piece resilient sole



Aug. 22, 19611 p, w, BAKER 2,996,814

WASHABLE SLIPPER-TYPE FOOTWEAR WITH ONE-PIECE RESILIENT SULE Filed June 27, 1958 INVENTOR: PAUL. W. BAKER.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,996,814 WASHABLE SLlPPER-TYPE FOOTWEAR WITH ONE-PIECE RESILIENT SOLE Paul W. Baker, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Holeproof Hosiery Company, Marietta, Ga., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 27, 1958, Ser. No. 745,138 1 Claim. (Cl. 36-9) This invention relates to an improved article of footwear of the slipper type which may be used for indoor or outdoor casual wear and a method of producing the same.

For the last several years there has been a demand for a slipper type footwear article having a fabric upper portion and a wear-resisting cushion sole portion. This type footwear must be so constructed that it may be easily placed on and removed from the foot, be com fortable when worn, have a long wearing life, retain its appearance and shape after repeated laundering and remain securely in position on the foot when walking. Various attempts have been made to meet the demand for this type of footwear but none of these prior attempts have been successful in meeting all of the above require ments.

The prior articles fall into two general classes the first of which includes a knitted sock to which a relatively thin wear-resistant sole of leather or the like is sewed to the bottom of the sock. While the thin sole is wearresistant, it does not appreciably protect the foot of the wearer nor does it cushion the foot. Where the thin sole is formed of leather, the article may not be repeatedly laundered without removing the sole. In the second general class of articles a resilient sole, such as rubber, is attached to the fabric upper portion by cement or vulcanizing. In these cases, the cement or the upper portion of the vulcanized sole must penetrate the fabric upper portion in order to bond the sole thereto. The presence of cement or vulcanized rubber exposed on the inside of the article is objectionable and this type of bond is subject to pulling loose after repeated laundering operations and wear.

With the foregoing in mind, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a slipper type article having a resilient sole portion of suflicient thickness to cushion the foot and a fabric upper portion comfortably confining the foot above the sole portion and with the fabric portion secured to the sole portion by sewing to prevent their separation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a slipper type article having an upper fabric portion attached to a resilient sole and the fabric portion having a fabric sole liner covering the resilient sole member to prevent engagement of the wearers foot with the resilient sole.

It is another object of this invention to provide a slipper type article having an upper fabric portion and a lower resilient sole member with the upper fabric portion having a sole liner portion completely covering the sole member and being attached to the sole member adjacent only the outer edges of the sole member whereby the effect on the bottom of the foot is substantially the same as the eifect when walking in soft-sole shoes with a sock on the foot because the fabric sole liner is not attached to the resilient sole except at its edges.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a slipper type article having an upper fabric portion and an attached lower resilient sole member which may be repeatedly laundered without deterioration or separation.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proice ceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of the complete slipper type article;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of the resilient sole before the upper fabric portion is attached thereto;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view through a portion of the sole member and taken substantially along the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 in FIGURE 1 and illustrating the manner in which the upper fabric portion is attached to the sole member;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the area enclosed by the dotted rectangle indicated at 5 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an isometric view of the toe portion of the article with some of the stitches cut and portions of the fabric broken away to illustrate the construction of the article;

FIGURE 7 is an isometric view of a modified form of resilient sole which may be utilized to provide a raised heel and arch support for the article;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 8-8 in FIG- URE 7.

Referring to the drawings, the article includes a single piece-molded resilient sole member indicated broadly at 10 which may be formed of any suitable material such as deformable sponge or foam rubber, foam vinyl plas tic or the like. The upper and lower or only the lower portion of the sole member, 10 may be provided with a filler material to form a substantially non-porous skin thereon and prevent the absorption of moisture into the sole member 10. Referring to FIGURES 2 and 3, it will be noted that the sole member 10 is shaped to generally conformto the outline of the human foot and has an integrally formed raised portion or foot pad 11 thus providing a relatively narrow ledge or projection 12 around the outer periphery of the sole member 10.

The article also includes an upper fabric portion in dicated broadly at 15 which may be formed of any suit able knitted, woven or non-woven fabric. It is preferred that the fabric be a stretchable knit fabric formed with terry pile loops on one surface for purposes to be later described. The upper fabric portion comprises a sole liner 16, the edge of which generally conforms to the outline of the sole member 10 and a foot covering member having a fabric heel section 17 and a fabric toe section 18. The heel section 17 extends around and behind the heel and opposite forward ends of the heel section are sewed or seamed to opposite sides of the toe portion 18 (FIGURES 1 and 4).

The upper edges of the heel portion 17 and toe portion 18 are cut in such a manner that they define an opening for reception of the foot when placing the article on or removing the same from the foot. It is desirable that this opening be bound by suitable binding material indicated at 20 and since the portions 17 and '18 are formed of a stretchable knit fabric, it is preferable that the binding be the conventional type elastic tape. The tape is folded and attached adjacent the edges of the portions 17 and 18 by conventional stitching.

In order to assemble the fabric upper portion 15, the heel and toe sections 17 and 18 are first seamed together, the elastic tape 20 is sewed to the foot opening at the upper edge of the sections 17 and 18 and the lower edges of the portions 17 and 18 are then sewed to the outer edge of the sole liner 16 by a conventional overedge seaming operation by stitching indicated at 22 (FIGURE 6). It is preferred that this seam be hidden and reinforced by a binding tape of the type used to bind the 3 foot receiving opening and to this end, an elastic tape or band indicated at 24 is folded and attached over the seam by a row of stitches indicated at 25 in FIGURE 5. Of course, the elastic tapes'20 and 24 may be the same or of contrasting colors to 'the fabric used in the portions 16, 17 and 18, if desired.

The fabric upper portion 15 is then attached adjacent the outer peripheral edge of the sole member by a row of sewn stitches indicated at 30 in FIGURE 5. The stitches 30 extend around the periphery of the sole member 10 and penetrate the ledge 12 and the lower edges of the portions 16, 17 and 18 as well as the elastic tape 24.

The upper fabric portion is thus attached to the sole member 10 only by the row of stitches 30 and this row of stitches extends around the outer periphery of and penetrates the ledge 12 of the sole member '10. Thus, the sole liner 16 is in snug engagement with the upper surface of the raised portion 11 and when the article is worn, it creates the same impression as or feel on the bottom of the foot as is experienced when soft-soled shoes are worn with a pair of socks. In other words, the sole liner 16 may be moved relative to the upper surface of the sole member 10 when walking but cannot shift longitudinally or transversely far enough for the foot to become displaced from over the sole member 10.

In some cases, it may be desirable to elevate the heel and provide some support for the arch .of the wearer. To this end, the modified form of resilient sole member indicated broadly at 10' and shown in FIGURES 7 and 8 is provided. This sole member 10' is also provided with an outwardly projecting ledge 12' and a raised portion or foot pad indicated at 11' which gradually increases in height from the toe to the heel of the sole member 10 in order to elevate the heel of the wearer and provide an arch support therefor. The same fabric upper portion may be used with this modified sole member 10' by merely extending the width of the rear portion of the sole liner 16 so that the same will cover the upper surface of the foot pad portion 11' and the edge will extend down to the ledge 12' and by extending the lower edge of the rear portion of the heel section 17 further downwardly so, that it will reach the ledge 12' surrounding the raised heel portion.

In order to reduce relative slippage between the foot and the sole liner 16, it will be noted in FIGURE 5 that the upper surface of the sole liner 16 is provided with knitted terry loops which also cushion the foot. The inner surface of each portion 17 and 18 is also provided with terry loops to make the foot of the wearer more comfortable and since the construction of terry loops in the knitting art is well known, this will not be described in detail.

While the upper fabric portion 15 has been described as being formed of a stretchable knitted fabric, of course, other types of fabric may be employed and they need not necessarily be knitted fabric. The upper fabric portion 15 is shown covering substantially the whole foot but it should be understood that -it may cover more or less of the foot.

It is thus seen that a slipper type article of footwear and method of producing the same have been provided wherein the comfort of a foot confining upper fabric portion has been combined with the desirable cushioning and wear-resisting qualities of a resilient sole in a simple and economical manner.

In the drawings and specification there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claim. a

I claim:

An article of footwear comprising a one-piece spongelike deformable sole member and a resilient fabric portion attached thereto, said resilient fabric portion comprising a fabric sole liner substantially conforming to the configuration of said sole member and a fabric foot covering member adapted to receive and confine at least a portion of the wearers foot, stitches penetrating the peripheral edges of said foot covering member and said fabric sole liner and securing the same together, said sole member having an integrally formed raised foot pad spaced inwardly from the peripheral edge thereof, peripheral edges of said resilient fabric portion being outturned to substantially overlie the peripheral edge of the sole member, and additional stitches penetrating the peripheral edges of said fabric foot covering member, said fabric sole liner and said sole member, said sole member being deformed by said additional stitches whereby the stitches are substantially hidden from view and spaced inwardly from the lower wearing surface of said sole member for avoiding abrasive wear thereon, said additional stitches defining the only points of connection between said fabric sole liner and said sole member whereby relative movement is permitted between said fabric sole liner and sole member for giving the wearer the simulated effect of a sock in a soft sole shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 269,212 Kindregan Dec. 19, 1882 1,243,421 Kelly Oct. 16, 1917 1,284,014 Winslow Nov. 5, 1918 1,333,995 Ramsey Mar. 16, 1920 1,335,156 Burke Mar. 30, 1920 1,640,362 Mahler et al. Aug. 30, 1927 1,677,343 Howlett July 17, 1928 2,011,230 Mondl Aug. 13, 1935 2,058,540 Whidden Oct. 27, 1936 2,334,659 Van Arsdale et al. Nov. 16, 1943 2,394,707 Maling Feb. 12, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 682,600 France Feb. 17, 1930 902,483 France Dec. 15, 1944 963,579 France Ian. 4, 1950 986,612 France Apr. 4, 1951 1,035,956 France Apr. 22, 1953 660,307 Great Britain Nov. 7, 1951 

